CD Filing

[Roehre]

My point of departure is an Acces file with the following entries:

COMPOSER if necessary followed by letters of first names, Bach J.S. of Bach C.P.E. e.g.
WORK official standardised title + "nickname" like Symphony no. 6 "Pastoral"
, or Le Sacre du Printemps. Names in English, Welsh, German, French, Italian, Latin and Dutch with their original titel, otherwise the English translation (all Russian titles are in English therefore, e.g.)
KEY if there is one
OPUS (or KV with Mozart, D with Schubert, main Hobokengroup for Haydn, etc)
#: sub number, e.g. the a from opus 81a is marked here. That's necessary as opus must be a numeric field, otherwise you are unable to get the order numerically right.
ALT#NR# WoO with Beethoven, opusnrs with Haydn or Schubert e.g. White with Stravinsky, H with Martinu or Honegger, etc
YEAR if known year of completion or publication
REMARK version (Bruckner !), arrangements, arrangers, orcehstration if necessary
LP
MC
CD
LOCATION either number or title of sleeve/box + recod company + recordnumber
DATE of recording or of registration.

I don't do genres or performers and only mark them is they are really special (composer playing e.g.) in the "Remarks"-field.

Location: Cassette-tapes are (mainly chronologically) numbered.
LP and CD location consist of composer's name where located (if more than one composer), if necessary the work, a * if more than one composer on that record, record company, record number and, if more LP/CD set located separately, "box" .
It is not necessary to mark here whether it is an LP, MC or CD as that's mentioned in an earlier field already.

E.g.
So Beethoven Pastoral is DGG 2747.001
Beethoven Egmont on Pastoral is Sym 6: DGG 2747.001
Mozart's Don Giovanni overture on Beethoven's pastoral: Beethoven Sym 6 * DGG 2741.001

Gabrieli's works on a Virgin CD Venetian Coronatian 1595: Venetian Coronation * virgin 7.911123-2

DesPrez's Scamarella va la Guerra: Glory Netherlands * EMI SLS 890 box

A cassette tape recorded in 1995 or so: 560

although the collections are spread over three locations now, it is immedately clear where to find what (hence the extra help of the Date), and within seconds.
It means that one must have the discipline to put titles of CDs immediately into the system, otherwise it is very swiftly unreliable.
It's the only way to get a firm grip on 53.000+ recordings with only some 20% doublets.

[Nick Armstrong]

Phew !!!!!

[Petrushka]

I am contemplating doing away with my lps

I've not played a single LP since 1985 but I would still find it a terrible wrench to part with the 700 odd I still have. Many of them were presents from my parents (including my first classical LP) and many others hold deep personal significance for me. On the other hand, disposing of them would free up a good deal of useful space. No, no I just can't do it!

[Dave2002]

It's the only way to get a firm grip on 53.000+ recordings with only some 20% doublets.

msg 16

Now I know you are not just one real person!

[Roehre]

msg 16

Now I know you are not just one real person!

53.000+ recordings = 2000 Cassette tapes + 5000 LPs + 6000 CDs
Webern's Cello sonata is one recording, but so is Götterdämmerung

[Nick Armstrong]

53.000+ recordings = 2000 Cassette tapes + 5000 LPs + 6000 CDs

[mercia]

nobody got a shed then ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bSXX3yWcnQg

[Flosshilde]

I have about 3 tall IKEA CD shelves full, so it doesn't take me long to scan them & decide what I want to listen to.

(The CDs are in composer order; the compilations in a seperate 'sequence' which isn't one)

[umslopogaas]

My LPs and CDs are shelved alphabetically by composer, then by concerto, symphony, chamber, vocal, where there is a large number (eg Mozart): similar I think to the system used by several previous posters. The LPs (all seven and a half thousand of them) are all on an Excel database and can be sorted by label, composer, work, soloists, conductor, orchestra. It would be a nightmare to do this from scratch, but I built it up gradually over many years, adding a few new ones every week. I havent bought any LPs for ages - cant find supplies, and I dont like buying on-line. I do buy CDs every month, and have about 800. I am gradually building up an Excel database for these too, adding a few each day, since it is a very boring job.

The big problem is compilation discs featuring more than one composer. I file them either by the first composer on side A or by the major work if one is obviously more major than the others. However, I have been too lazy to list all the composers on the databases, using just the one under which the disc is filed. This means that if I forget the other composers on the disc, I have no way of checking for their music when for example I hear it on the radio, and it is effectively lost in my collection until I re-discover it by chance - which in a way, is rather fun.

[makropulos]

Like several other posters, mine are arranged alphabetically by composer if the disc is of a single composer's work, subdivided into symph, conc, other orch, chamber, choral, vocal, opera - as appropriate (doesn't work for Chopin, or Schütz, or Palestrina... but they are treated in a way that makes sense to me). Most of the rest of my collection is orchestral, so that is filed alphabetically by conductor. After that come ensembles, pianists, singers - again arranged alphabetically by artists, with appropriate bits of faking along the way to make it possible to find stuff. And then there are huge boxes of bits, which get filed together - the big Mercury sets, the recent Florilegium one, where - if I'm feeling virtuous, I file alphabetically by Label (from Argo to Westminster, as it were) - but by that stage I'm usually having to break the rules since they have to sit of a shelf somewhere and storage space is anything but limitless... So, in a nutshell, it's fairly strictly organized in the composer sequence, and gets a bit approximate - on a need-to-find basis - after that :)

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Yes - alphabetically by composer. Discs with works by two composers kept separate (with the disc shelved alphabetically by the composers, unless there are two discs with the same programme [such as the Debussy/Ravel S4tets] when one goes under "D", the other "R"). Very few compilation discs - they have their own haphazard shelf. Boxed sets devoted to a performer shelved separately alphabetically. Jazz shelved alphabetically, Pop/Rock chronologically, "World" alphabetically by Country or Artist as appropriate.

The main body of CDs is stuff from the Western Classical traditions - once alphabetized, they're shelved by colour of spine: so red for EMI, yellow for DGG, white for DECCA and NAXO, black for KAIROS etc etcS. Makes for quite a Mondrianesque visual arrangement (or perhaps more Marlow Moss, given the broken lines).

And, of course I have a shed! Where do you think I put myself?

[gurnemanz]

Classical by Composer and grouped within by vocal, symphony, chamber etc. A decision has to be made with two or more composers, usually by first item. Boxes are on a separate shelf by three types: Artist, Composer or Various. I still need a shelf for random items like very mixed compilations. My CD shelving is full and I'm now starting to colonise a nearby bookshelf. I'd love to put the whole lot on a hard drive but can't face the sheer magnitude of the task.

Jazz and Rock by artist.

I could not exist without a database and always immediately add every new acquisition. Orange CD Catalog has served me very well for ten years with details downloadable from the Net. It is in daily use and well backed up - heaven knows how many hours I've invested to get it just the way I want it.

[kea]

CDs with colourful spines are arranged in rainbow order from red to violet. CDs with grayscale spines are arranged in brightness order from white to black. Everything's been digitised anyway by now, I don't even have a working CD player (unless my laptop counts)

[EdgeleyRob]

Shelves full of cds have a certain beauty,but so do tottering piles in their own way.

[Nick Armstrong]

...unless there are two discs with the same programme [such as the Debussy/Ravel S4tets] when one goes under "D", the other "R").

... once alphabetized, they're shelved by colour of spine: so red for EMI, yellow for DGG, white for DECCA and NAXO, black for KAIROS etc etc

Kinky. Like it.

And, of course I have a shed! Where do you think I put myself?